Vanilla Ice Demonstrates Why You Have To Learn Forgiveness

You may remember Vanilla Ice from his one hit, “Ice Ice Baby.” Released in 1989 and again in 1990, the song was a phenomenon…until it wasn’t anymore, and Vanilla Ice became a bit of a laughingstock. He was mocked for being a white rapper, the song went from Billboard hit to “worst ever” lists, and Vanilla — a.k.a. Robert Van Winkle — got addicted to drugs, released subsequent albums that tanked, and finally tried to kill himself.

All very sad, and no one’s saying what happened to Ice was fair, especially because he was only 16 when he wrote and recorded the song. But at some point, it behooves you to get over the injustices that life doles out. And at age 43, it’s probably about time that Van Winkle — who apparently wants to stay in the public eye — did just that.

Instead, though, it looks like he’s channeling those decades of anger towards new stars like Justin Bieber. According to the Daily Swarm, Ice recently said that:

“I mean, I did ‘Ice Ice Baby’ when I was 16. So I can kind of relate a bit,” he says. “Sold over a hundred million records. And I had a weekend that lasted about three years, and I didn’t know who I was, what’s my purpose in life.”

“So my prediction about Bieber is that he’s going to go through one of those weekends that lasts a few years because he’s had such success as a child act,” says Winkle. “You know, then something else new will come along and he’ll be forgotten and he can try to put all the pieces back together, so it’s going to be entertaining to watch.”

Um, yeah. First of all, Justin Bieber’s career trajectory has included hit after hit after hit, o-kay? So don’t talk shit about the Bieb on my watch.

But more than that, it’s really not attractive for a grown man to talk about how fun it’s going to be to watch a child’s life go to shit. So we thank you, Van Winkle, for the reminder about why we have to learn to forgive. Because otherwise, we will be bitter, angry, and will publicly say that we can’t wait for a 16-year-old boy’s failure.

First of all, yes. What a dick thing to say. I’m not Bieber fan, but still.

Secondly, I have no idea when he actually *wrote* the song, or even started performing it, but if “Ice Ice Baby” was released in 1989 (and made him a star at this time), he would have been 22. Still young, but definitely very different than being 16. 22 is no longer a “child act.” Is he lying? Confused? I don’t get it.

Jon

He really didn’t have to put it in those words but I see what he means. And btw, “Ice Ice Baby” is a banger. Y’all can’t tell me nothing.